Brazilian Thiago Da Silva won the Olympic Games pole vault gold medal in dramatic fashion on Monday to give the host country their first athletics gold medal of the Games.

World record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France took the silver medal.

WATCH: golden moments on Day 10 at the Rio Olympics

After three early failures, Da Silva passed on an attempt at 5.98 metres and pushed Lavillenie to 6.03, which the Frenchman failed twice before the Brazilian set an Olympic record by clearing that height.

The Brazilian crowd had been quiet early in the night, which began with a rain delay, but quickly got behind their 22-year-old countryman, cheering him wildly and booing Lavillenie as he prepared for his final jump.

Lavillenie gave a thumbs-down signal, an apparent request for quiet, but the crowd ignored him, exploding in cheers when Lavillenie missed his final jump.

Outside the quarter full stadium, shouts echoed through the darkened streets of Rio’s Jardim Botanico neighbourhood.